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Minutes of Proceedings

44th Parliament, 1st Session
Meeting 92
Thursday, February 1, 2024, 8:17 a.m. to 10:01 a.m.
Webcast
Presiding
Lena Metlege Diab, Chair (Liberal)

House of Commons
• Jean-François Pagé, Legislative Clerk
• Émilie Thivierge, Legislative Clerk
• Rémi Bourgault, Procedural Clerk
 
Library of Parliament
• Lyne Casavant, Analyst
• Dana Phillips, Analyst
Department of Justice
• Julie Besner, Senior Counsel, Public Law and Legislative Services Sector
• Anna Dekker, Senior Counsel and Deputy Director, Public Law and Legislative Services Sector
Pursuant to the order of reference of Wednesday, June 21, 2023, the committee resumed consideration of Bill C-40, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, to make consequential amendments to other Acts and to repeal a regulation (miscarriage of justice reviews).

The witnesses answered questions.

The committee resumed its clause-by-clause study of the Bill.

The committee resumed clause-by-clause consideration on Clause 3 of the Bill.

On Clause 3,

Anthony Housefather moved, — That Bill C-40, in Clause 3, be amended

(a) by replacing line 22 on page 3 with the following:

“(4) Despite subsection (3), the Commission may de‐”

(b) by replacing line 24 on page 3 with the following:

“or verdict was not appealed to the court of appeal or the Supreme Court of”

(c) by replacing line 28 on page 3 with the following:

“judgment of the trial court;”

(d) by replacing line 30 on page 3 with the following:

“pealed to the court of appeal or the Supreme Court of Canada;”

(e) by replacing line 35 on page 3 with the following:

“court of appeal or the Supreme Court of Canada may be served and filed;”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Anthony Housefather and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Élisabeth Brière, Anju Dhillon, Rhéal Éloi Fortin, Randall Garrison, Anthony Housefather, James Maloney, Marco Mendicino — 7;

NAYS: Frank Caputo, Marilyn Gladu, Rob Moore, Tako Van Popta — 4.

Rob Moore moved, — That Bill C-40, in Clause 3, be amended by replacing lines 12 and 13 on page 4 with the following:

“696.‍5 (1) If the Commission believes that there is a real possibility that a miscarriage of justice has occurred and”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Rob Moore and it was negatived on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Frank Caputo, Marilyn Gladu, Rob Moore, Tako Van Popta — 4;

NAYS: Élisabeth Brière, Anju Dhillon, Rhéal Éloi Fortin, Randall Garrison, Anthony Housefather, James Maloney, Marco Mendicino — 7.

Clause 3, as amended, carried on division.

At 9:26 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 9:34 a.m., the sitting resumed.

On Clause 4,

Randall Garrison moved, — That Bill C-40, in Clause 4, be amended

(a) by replacing line 26 on page 7 with the following:

“696.‍72 The Commission’s mandate is to

(a) review applica‐”

(b) by adding after line 30 on page 7 the following:

“(b) make recommendations to address systemic issues that may lead to miscarriages of justice to relevant public authorities and bodies, including the Law Commission of Canada, federal-provincial-territorial committees and working groups, federal departments and agencies and parliamentary committees.”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Randall Garrison and it was agreed to on division.

Rhéal Éloi Fortin moved, — That Bill C-40, in Clause 4, be amended by adding after line 13 on page 8 the following:

“(1.1) Each commissioner must have the ability to speak and understand clearly both official languages.”

At 9:43 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 9:52 a.m., the sitting resumed.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Rhéal Éloi Fortin and it was negatived on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Élisabeth Brière, Anju Dhillon, Rhéal Éloi Fortin, Anthony Housefather, Marco Mendicino — 5;

NAYS: Frank Caputo, Randall Garrison, Marilyn Gladu, James Maloney, Rob Moore, Tako Van Popta — 6.

Randall Garrison moved, — That Bill C-40, in Clause 4, be amended by adding after line 3 on page 11 the following:

“(a.1) direct employees to provide advice to the Correctional Service of Canada and to the Parole Board of Canada in order to ensure that applicants and potential applicants do not experience barriers to or exclusion from programs, services or conditional release processes as result of making an application for a review on the grounds of miscarriage of justice;”

Debate arose thereon.

James Maloney moved, — That the amendment be amended

(a) by replacing the words “provide advice to” with the word “notify”

(b) by replacing the words “to the Parole Board of Canada in order to ensure” with the words “the Parole Board of Canada of the importance of ensuring”.

After debate, the question was put on the subamendment of James Maloney and it was agreed to on division.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Randall Garrison, as amended, and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Élisabeth Brière, Anju Dhillon, Randall Garrison, Anthony Housefather, James Maloney, Marco Mendicino — 6;

NAYS: Frank Caputo, Rhéal Éloi Fortin, Marilyn Gladu, Rob Moore, Tako Van Popta — 5.

Clause 4, as amended, carried on division.

By unanimous consent, Clauses 5 to 20 inclusive carried on division severally.

Clause 1, Short Title, carried.

The Title carried.

The Bill, as amended, was adopted on division.

ORDERED, — That the Chair report the Bill, as amended, to the House.

ORDERED, — That Bill C-40, as amended, be reprinted for the use of the House of Commons at report stage.

At 10:01 a.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.



Jean-François Lafleur
Clerk of the committee